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Afghan prison break spells trouble

Daring escape by Taliban members involved car jacks to break through concrete floor of Kandahar's main jail.

25 Apr 2011 17:28 GMT

The escape by hundreds of prisoners from Kandahar's main jail spells disaster for the Afghan government - and a setback for foreign forces planning to start a gradual withdrawal within months.

The Taliban said in a statement that 541 prisoners escaped through the tunnel, which took months to construct, and were later moved in vehicles to safer locations.

It said the prisoners escaped over a four-and-a-half hour period during the night, meaning more than 100 prisoners an hour would have had to crawl out through a tunnel barely large enough to fit one man.

Al Jazeera's Bhanu Bhatnager takes a close look at the daring jail-break.